Tag Archives: closed

The Sunnyside branch of the Queens Library will close at the end of business on Saturday, June 21 to install a new roof.

The library, located at 43-06 Greenpoint Ave., is expected to reopen in mid- August.

A mobile library will provide limited service every Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the closure. Readers can also visit near-by branches at 25-01 Jackson Ave. in Court Square, 37-44 21 St. in Long Island City and 54-22 Skillman Ave. in Woodside.

A rebranded restaurant in Fresh Meadows could not fill the cups of its predecessor.

Bud’s Ale House has closed its 61-09 190th Street location. The move came several months after Bud’s took over a Hooters there.

Officials said the food joint reopened under a new name last October after Hooters of America axed a franchise agreement with Strix Restaurant Group, which ran the Fresh Meadows restaurant.

Bud’s Ale House offered food options and drink specials similar to Hooters’ menu, but servers showed less skin, according to Strix spokesperson Ed McCabe. The new establishment also shot for an equal ratio of male and female employees.

A Hooters in Farmingdale that transformed into a Bud’s Ale House the same time as the eatery in Fresh Meadows has closed as well.

A Bud’s Ale House in Astoria is still open, but managers say they are not affiliated with Strix.

The Department of Education is working on providing busing for students heading to the relocated schools.

Schools with power but without heat will open on Monday.

“Some of the buildings may not have heat, some of the school buildings, and they’ve been without heat for a while, so please dress your children with that in mind. If the schools were dangerously cold we obviously wouldn’t open them, but if they’re chilly, extra sweaters for the kids is something that should make some sense,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

With the city’s transportation shutting down tonight, the mayor also announced the closure of schools on Monday.

Heavy rains and strong winds have also forced evacuations of low-lying areas throughout the five boroughs.

“Due to anticipated inclement weather conditions from Hurricane Sandy, all New York City public schools will be closed to students tomorrow, October 29. Administrative offices will be open. All after-school activities and Public Schools Athletic League events will also be cancelled. We are asking that school staff and employees assigned to a shelter site to report to their posts,” said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

A decision has yet to be made regarding school openings on Tuesday, though the mayor said he hopes that children will be able to return by then.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) will close and relocate its Bayside post office branch, according to Congressmember Gary Ackerman.

USPS officials want to move the centrally located Bayside branch, located at 212-35 42nd Avenue — off Bell Boulevard behind the Long Island Rail Road station — to a remote annex at 41-29 216th Street, the congressmember said. The annex, he said, is located in a much less convenient location on the edge of a residential neighborhood.

“Moving the Bayside branch from its prime spot in the middle of the area’s busy commercial strip to a remote and inconvenient location makes absolutely no sense,” Ackerman said. “Not only would this plan adversely impact the local residents and businesses who use this facility, but it could likely cause a further erosion in postal business since its customers may not trek to this out-of-the-way location.”

According to Ackerman, the USPS presently leases both properties, and its officials say swapping locations would save the agency money.

“The Postal Service is in a financial death spiral, and we’re all aware that the agency is under intense pressure to cut costs. But making it more difficult for consumers to purchase its products and utilize its services is certainly not the way to go,” he said.

The USPS did not yet return calls for comment.

The move would occur sometime in 2013. While no jobs would be lost under the plan, the congressmember said the agency still needs to follow proper procedure in consolidating facilities, which requires public notice, consultation and input.

“That has not happened,” Ackerman said.

Bayside resident Frank Ringuette, who picks up his mail at a P.O. box in the Bayside branch, said the change would be a huge inconvenience for him.

The furor over the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin is being “exploited” by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to “racially divide the country,” a civil-rights leader charged yesterday. Martin’s “family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions,” the Rev. C.L. Bryant, a former NAACP leader, said of the 17-year-old hoodie-wearing black youth who was shot dead by a mixed white-Latino neighborhood-watch volunteer. Read More: New York Post

Shooter’s claim to police: Trayvon Martin pounced on me

Trayvon Martin was the real aggressor in his deadly encounter with George Zimmerman — punching the neighborhood-watch volunteer, slamming his head on the sidewalk and grabbing for his gun, according to Zimmerman’s account to detectives. The 28-year-old cop wannabe painted himself as the victim in the fatal brawl, telling investigators he was returning to his SUV and trying to call 911 when the unarmed 17-year-old approached him from behind and threw the first punch, according to published reports. Read More: New York Post

Bell cop duo out — but get to keep pensions

Two veteran cops ousted from the NYPD for their roles in the Sean Bell killing turned in their retirement papers yesterday. Detectives Marc Cooper and Michael Oliver walked into One Police Plaza to sign their paperwork. They left without comment — but with their lucrative pensions still in place. The forced retirements came after an internal NYPD trial determined the detectives acted improperly when they and fellow officers gunned down the unarmed Bell in a 50-bullet fusillade the night before his wedding in 2006. Read More: New York Post

Intruders shoot man in UWS apartment

An Upper West Side man was shot yesterday during an attempted robbery in his apartment, cops said. The 20-year-old victim said in a 911 call that he let two men into his building on West 100th Street near Riverside Drive believing they were deliverymen, and they attempted to rob him in his fifth-floor, blasting him in the leg, according to an FDNY spokesperson and police sources. Police are investigating his claims. Read More: New York Post

Hundreds of city schools in the five boroughs are contaminated with PCB, a toxic material that can cause serious health problems, and hundreds more school may also have the substance. Department of Education officials say they are working as hard as it can to fix the problem but critics say it’s not hard enough. NY1’s Education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following exclusive report. Read More: NY1

State Health Department To Shut Down Queens’ Peninsula Hospital

Peninsula Hospital Center will close for good, following months of efforts to keep the failing hospital in Queens open. The State Department of Health said Monday that Peninsula Hospital officials will be required to submit a closure plan. According to the Queens borough president, up to 1,000 jobs are on the way out. Its closure will leave the 100,000 residents of the Rockaways with only one hospital. Health officials shut down Peninsula’s laboratory last month after it failed an inspection. The hospital in Edgemere was also barred from admitting new patients until issues were resolved. Without revenue from patients, the hospital is unable to run daily operations. Read More: NY1

A Queens mom who dumped her newborn daughter in a hospital trash can out of fear her mother would learn of her pregnancy pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge Monday. Dawa Lama, 23, faces 10 years in prison as part of a plea deal worked out with Queens prosecutors. During a court appearance, Queens Supreme Court Justice Lenora Gerald told Lama that she’ll be deported to her native Nepal once she finishes her sentence. Read More: Daily News

After 50 years in the community, a Maspeth manufacturer may be headed for “greener” pastures out of state that provide more financial incentives.

Karp Associates, a third-generation manufacturing company, is leaving its current Maspeth location after losing their property to Eminent Domain.

Though Karp, which manufactures and distributes access doors, has received offers to relocate from about a dozen states, the company favors staying within the city.

“Our first preference was always to stay here,” said George Kosser, vice president of operations at Karp. He said that while Karp has received better offers from other locales, the company is merely looking for the same offer a new business coming into the city would receive.

“We weren’t going anywhere,” said Kosser. “For the fact that we’re being kicked out, treat us just like we were coming for the first time.”

Their location on 43rd Street between 55th Avenue and 54th Road, in the shadow of the Kosciusko Bridge, was seized by the state Department of Transportation to make way for a new bridge.

The city has worked with Karp since the company discovered their property was being seized to keep them in the five boroughs. But they are not eligible for certain assistance that companies relocating to the city are.

The company was offered tax breaks and incentive packages by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to stay in the city.

Karp was founded in 1957 by current owner Adam Gold’s grandfather and great uncle. Over its 50-plus years in Maspeth, the company has grown from an operation of 10 workers in a 5,000-square-foot space to about 120 workers in 120,000-square-feet in three locations.

“The feeling I get is that the city doesn’t care if we stay or go,” Kosser said.

The EDC said they are very committed to job retention.

“We take the needs of companies across the five boroughs very seriously, and are committed to providing certain types of assistance when necessary to keep good jobs here in New York City,” said EDC spokesperson Patrick Muncie.

Karp is resigned to the fact that it will most likely have to leave the city, but the company hopes to be able to remain in New York, specifically Long Island, and is continuing to work with the state. Most of the workers live near the company’s current location.

In June, Karp declined an offer from the Empire State Development (ESD) of a package that included $445,000 from the EDC along with $7 million from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency.

“ESD will continue to work hard to keep jobs in New York and talks are ongoing, but there cannot be an open faucet of taxpayer money,” said Austin Shafran, vice president of public affairs for Empire State Development.

Karp was offered the maximum amount of money allowable under state law, he said.

The company hopes to make a decision by the end of the year, with relocating to New Jersey being an option if a move to Long Island cannot be negotiated.

Karp, whose customers are mostly construction distributors, recently landed the contract for the World Trade Center.

“We’re the company that everyone wants,” Kosser said. “Except for the city.”